Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC Announces COVID-19 Project Update

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 15, 2020 / Hemogenyx Pharmaceutical plc is pleased to announce progress in relation to its COVID-19 program.

On 24 June 2019, the Company announced the completion of the development of its second generation Advanced peripheral blood Hematopoietic Chimera ("ApbHC") or advanced humanised mice which offer several advantages over existing humanised mouse models. In particular, ApbHC do not develop Graft versus Host Disease ("GvHD"), which can compromise the utility of other similar types of humanised mice. The Directors considered that AbpHC, in addition to their use for disease modelling and drug testing, could potentially be used as a tool for the rapid discovery of human antibodies against human specific viral pathogens.

Subsequent work through the Company's subsidiary, Immugenyx, LLC ("Immugenyx"), had produced positive preliminary results prior to the emergence of COVID-19. In light of the emergence of the current major pandemic, work has been refocussed on COVID-19 with the aim of producing an effective treatment for those infected with the virus, and Immugenyx is currently taking the necessary steps to take this forward effectively. The work involves transplanting cells from blood samples from patients who have already recovered from COVID-19 into the ApbHC. This process will allow the Company's scientists to recreate a set of anti-SARS-CoV-2 virus antibodies which could be used for the treatment of COVID-19 sufferers.

In view of the continuing international spread of the disease and the propensity for coronaviruses to mutate and produce new strains, the Company's technology, in combination with the use of its humanised mice, should also form the basis for the treatment of future viral outbreaks.

Meanwhile, as announced on 22 April 2020, the Company has progressed its work, currently using blood samples from convalescent patients, to attempt to establish why some individuals who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic, some exhibit mild symptoms, and some become very sick. This work will be of value in developing new forms of treatment, and especially in managing infection risk and assisting individuals better to establish their real risk of getting sick.

The additional funds raised recently have enabled the Company to take these and other developments forward significantly and at a faster pace.

At the same time, the Directors are aware of shareholder interest in the collaboration with Orgenesis Inc. ("Orgenesis"). The Board reminds shareholders of the collaboration agreement entered into by Immugenyx and Orgenesis in 2018, the principal terms of which are set out in the Company's announcement of 19 October 2018, and under which Orgenesis obtained the right to use and distribute the Company's Advanced Humanised Mice.

The Directors welcome Oregenesis' recent announcement of their own COVID-19 related program and look forward to working with them under the terms of the collaboration agreement as and when they are ready to progress this planned development.

Dr Vladislav Sandler, CEO & Co-Founder of Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals, commented: "We are pleased with the Company's on-going developments in relation to COVID-19 and potentially with other viruses in the future. The treatment of emerging and re-emerging viral diseases requires ready and effective solutions for the range of medical problems they create. Our work is designed to provide such solutions both for the present and for the future."

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

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About Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc is a publicly traded company (LSE:HEMO) headquartered in London, with its US operating subsidiaries, Hemogenyx LLC and Immugenyx LLC, located at its state-of-the-art research facility in New York City and a Belgian operating subsidiary, Hemogenyx-Cell SPRL, located in Liège.

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical group developing new medicines and treatments to treat blood and autoimmune disease and to bring the curative power of bone marrow transplantation to a greater number of patients suffering from otherwise incurable life-threatening diseases. The Company is developing several distinct and complementary product candidates, as well as a platform technology that it uses as an engine for novel product development.

For more than 50 years, bone marrow transplantation has been used to save the lives of patients suffering from blood diseases. The risks of toxicity and death that are associated with bone marrow transplantation, however, have meant that the procedure is restricted to use only as a last resort. Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc's technology has the potential to enable many more patients suffering from devastating blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as severe autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, aplastic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus), to benefit from bone marrow transplantation.

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SOURCE: Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC